Off to a Good Start: The Early Transition to Adulthood

Gary Sandefur, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Jennifer Eggerling-Boeck, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Hyunjoon Park, University of Wisconsin at Madison

We use two longitudinal data sets - the High School and Beyond Sophomore Cohort of 1980 (last interviewed in 1992) and the National Educational Longitudinal Study 8th graders of 1988 (last interviewed in 2000) - to explore cohort differences in the early stages of the transition to adulthood. Specifically, we examine the extent to which family resources and school quality influence a successful launching of adult life. We examine whether coming out of a high school of high quality can compensate for some of the problems associated with coming from a disadvantaged family background. We ask, for example, whether young adults from low-income families who attend high quality high schools are less likely to experience early adult problems such as teen pregnancies or long periods of unemployment than are young adults from low-income families who attend high schools with significant problems. We also explore changes in these associations over time.